Child diagnosed with vitiligo. What is the chance of recovery?

Hi my little girl of 3 was diagnosed with vitilgo yesterday. i know it is an auto immune disease and that it "attacks the pigment of the skin. can she outgrows this, does it reach a peak and then stops and do these white spots go away in some cases. my dermatologist assured me that the younger kids get it the better the chances on recovering and in some cases the pigment gets back to its normal collour. She has had them for the past six months now on her shoulder and tummy. According to my doc there is absolutely nothing you can do about this, especially in children. The disease must peak and then it will stabilize. Please excuse all the grammar mistakes, i am from south Africa and English is my second language. We are 'European", but she has a beautiful, strong skin so the spots are quite obvious. can you please give me more info, i am so concerned that it will reach her face and when will she get over this, in other words, when will this stop? Thank you so much! regards, XXXXXX, south africa

Hi,Thanks for writing to us.The treatment of vitiligo in childhood involvesPrevention of progression of disease followed byInduction of repigmentation of lesions

Though the results are better in children however some children might not respond to treatment at all. However at no point one should wait for lesions to peak or stabilise and then regress.The progression of disease can be stopped by oral minipulse of steroids or narrow band UVB phototherapy and pigmentation can be induced by topical steroids or tacrolimus or calcipotriol. The treatment depends upon body surface area involved if lesions involve less than 20 percent of body surface area topicals are used. If involvement is more than oral or systemic therapy is tried.

I would advise that you discuss a dermatologist nearby so that lesions can be examined and appropriate treatment can be offered accordingly.Hope that helped. Should there be any other query, feel free to write back.Take care.